Loader attachment for road graders



Oct. 12, 1954 J WELLS, JR, mm. 2,691,452

LOADER ATTACHMENT FOR ROAD GRADERS Filed June 15, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l Joshua R. WeI/s, Jr:

Paul S. Winters INVENTORS Oct. 12, 1954 J, WELLS, JR, ETAL 2 LOADER ATTACHMENT FOR ROAD GRADERS Filed June 15, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2 a 59 77 6 3 7 77 R 7 g i g 63 64 i u 9! Ia: 2 as s;- 22 am v a a a Joshua R. Wg/ls, Jr. Fig 5 Paul .S. Wmfers INVENTORS.

Q 39 33 BY 34 (Wavy 8% Oct. 12, 1954 J. R, WELLS, JR, ETAL' 2,691,452

LOADER ATTACHMENT FOR ROAD GRADERS Filed June 15, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 3

Lmml

Joshua R. Wells, Jn

Paul 5. mh/ers INVENTORS.

Patented Oct. 12, 1954 LOADER ATTACHMENT EOR ROAD GRADERS Joshua R. Wells, J r., and Paul S. Winters, Maryville, Mo.

Application June 15. 1951, Serial No. 231,683

3 Claims.

Our invention relates to improvements in loading mechanisms for road graders and is designed as an improvement over the mechanism forming the subject matter of our abandoned application for U. S. Letters Patent, Serial No. 765,824, filed August 4, 1947.

The primary object of our invention is to equip the conventional road grader with pivoted scoop carrying arms swingable forwardly and upwardly of the grader from lowered, substantially vetical, scoop loading position, into a scoop dumping position high above the grader, and to provide means for swinging the scoop carrying arms which will exert a lifting force thereon for lifting heavy loads in the scoop without overburdening the power means so as to cause injury thereto.

Another object is to provide means for accomplishing the above which is adapted for installation on the conventional road grader, without necessitating modification of the grader, and which will not get out of order under heavy duty operation, and is economical to service, and manufacture.

Other and subordinate objects, within the purview of our invention, will become readily apparent when the succeeding description and claims are read with reference to the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation, partly in section, illustrating our invention in the preferred embodiment thereof;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view in front elevation;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view in plan with parts shown in section;

Figure 4 is a view in longitudinal vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3 and drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the bumper bar and parts associated therewith;

Figure 7 is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 'I-I of Figure 1 and drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the scoop back plate and parts thereon; and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary View in side elevationillustrating the scoop inverted for use as a bulldozer blade.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, the numeral 2 designates the frame beam of a conventional road grader and which is provided with a downturned front end 3 supported on the front axle housing 4 of the front steering Wheels, one of which is shown at 5.

According to our invention, a pair of upright channel bars 6, I at opposite sides of the beam 2 are bolted at lower ends thereof, as at 8, to a supporting angle iron bar 9 bolted, as at I 0, to the front end 3 of the beam 2 transversely of said end I3. A channel cross bar II connects the bar 6, I, substantially centrally thereof, also upright crossed brace members I2 intermediate the ends of said bars 6, I, a top tubular member l3 further connecting said bars 6, 1 and another tubular transverse member I4 adjacent the upper ends of said bars 6, I below the member 3.

The bars 6, I are held upright by a pair of rear wardly extending, horizontal angle bars I5 upon opposite sides of the beam 2 suitably attached at the front ends thereof to the cross bar II, and spaced apart parallel by diagonal crossed bars I6 and a cross bar I'I intermediate the ends of said angle bars I5. The rear ends of the angle bars I5 underlie a cross plate I8 resting on the beam 2 and are connected to said plate I8 by bolts I9 extending through the ends of U-shaped clamping members 20 straddling the beam 2 and together with the bolts I9 clamping said plate It! on said beam 2.

A pair of scoop carrying arms 2I are pivoted at upper ends thereof at the outer sides of the bars 6, I by means of a rod 22 extending through the tubular member I 4 and through said arms 2i with retaining nuts 23 on the ends of the rod, said arms 2I being vertically swingable upwardly and forwardly of the grader from a lowered scoop loading position into an upswung scoop dumping position. Crossed braces 25 connect the arms ZI intermediate the ends thereof.

The scoop 24 carried by the scoop carrying arms 2I is provided with upwardly tapering sides 26, a flat bottom 21 inclined forwardly and downwardly in the lowered positions of said scoop for digging or picking up a load from the ground, and a back closure plate 28 hinged, as at 2,9, to the upper rear corners of the sides 25 to swing open downwardly and rearwardly for dumping the scoop. The scoop 24 fits between I the lower ends of the scoop carrying arms 2| and 3 bolt hole 32 is provided in each side 26 of the scoop 2d forwardly of the arms 2| when said arms are attached as above described, the additional bolt hole serving a purpose presently explained.

A horizontal, channeled bumper bar 33 with a resilient cushion strip 35 therein is provided to extend behind and across the scoop 24 to cushion and limit downward swinging of the scoop 24 into lowered loading position, the bumper bar 33 being adjustably attached adjacent its ends to the axle housing by threaded studs on said bar, similar studs 36 fixed to the axle housing 4 by clamps Bl, and threaded sleeves 38 connecting said studs 35, it in pairs for adjusting said bar 33 forwardly and rearwardly as occasion may require. The cushion strip 34 is divided in the center of the bumper bar 33, as shown at 35 in Figure 6, to accommodate, when the scoop 245 is lowered, a draw bolt for latching the back plate 28 of the scoop 24 closed.

The draw bolt 68 is slidably mounted in guides on the back closure plate 28 of the scoop 24 for gravitational movement when the scoop 24 is lowered, into a keeper 42 on the rear edge of th bottom 2i of the scoop 25 whereby to latch said plate 23 in closed position. A draw bolt release lever 63 is pivoted on a pintle as forming part of the hinge 29 and is operatively connected, as at 45, to the draw bolt 44 for upward swinging, when the scoop 2 1 is raised, to release said draw bolt and unlatch said plate 28. A pull cable 46 attached at one end to the release lever 13 is trained upwardly and rearwardly over a pulley ll on the tubular member M from which said cable it extends downwardly and rearwardly for manual operation thereof at the rear end of the grader.

Operating mechanism for swinging the scoop carrying arms 2! is provided comprising the following. A rock shaft 5c is journaled transversely of the frame beam 2 in bearings 5| bolted, as at 52, on the cross plate 18, and is provided with like end crank arms 53 fast thereon for a purpose presently described. Telescopic, sectional push bar connections 54 extend forwardly from the crank arms 53, on opposite sides of the memher 2, to said arms 2!, each connection 5d comprising a pair of aligned rear and front push bar sections 55, 55, the rear section 55 being piv oted at its rear end, as at 53, to the adjacent crank arm 53, whereas, the front section 56 is pivoted, as at 58, to the scoop carrying arm 2i on the same side of the member 2. The rear section 55 is longitudinally slidable relative to the front section 55 in the rear end of a sleeve 59 into the front end of which the front section 55 is extended part way and fixed by a set bolt 66 for longitudinal adjustment relative to the sleeve 59, and the rear section 55, as occasion may require.

Each sleeve 59 is longitudinally slidable in a guide block 6!. The guide blocks E! are slidably mounted to the channel bars 6, 7 for guided movement vertically. For this purpose, each channel bar 5, l is provided with a pair of opposite, longitudinally extending and laterally spaced angle iron guides 63 suitably fixed to opposite sides of the channel bar to form with the flat side of the bar a vertically slotted guide way (it. Flanged and headed studs 65 bolted, as at so, to the guide blocks 6| extend into the guideways $5 with the heads 5'! thereof pivoting and sliding in said guideways.

The operating mechanism further includes, in addition to the foregoing, a cable wind up mechanism which will now be described. The cable wind up mechanism comprises a pair of fly wheel forming plate 70 fastened upon opposite ends of the rock shaft 50 and which are preferably, for reinforcin purposes, formed integrally with the crank arms 53. A pair of pull cables H are connected at one end thereof to said plates 10, as at E2, and are trained upwardly, upon opposite sides of the member 2 over pulleys '53 at the outer sides of said bars 6, '5, the pulleys 13 being confined by nuts M on a shaft 55 extending through the upper tubular member 13. From the pulleys "it, the cables H are trained downwardly and attached to the pivots 58 on the arms 2!. Peripherally grooved cable tensioning segments 76 are provided on confronting sides of the plates 16 to engage and exert pull on the cables H in a manner presently described. Cable guards ll are provided on channel bars 1 over the pulleys 13.

A power drive for the rock shaft 5!) is provided and which comprises a hydraulic pressure cylinder Bil extending longitudinally over the frame member 2 and bolted at its rear end, as at (H, to the bcforeinentioned cross bar H with its front end fixed by a clamp 82 to the beforernentioned cross bar 5?. A toothed piston rod 833 extends out of the front end of the cylinder Bi) and overlies and meshes with a gear pinion 53 3 as on the rock shaft 50 centrally thereof. ihe piston rod 83 is formed in two sections 35, 8B jointed, as at 3?, for attachment of the section 85, which is toothed, to the section 86. A channeled holddown guide 88 straddles the toothed section v and is bolted as at 8%; to a pair of the bearings 5! with shim plates 99 between said guides and the bearings for adjusting th working clearance between said guide 853 and the toothed section 85. A hydraulic fluid pressure supply and release line SI extends to the rear end of the cylinder ti] and a suitable pressure control and release valve 32 on one of the before mentioned bars 15 is connected to said line 9! and adapted for connection to a source of fluid pressure supply, not shown, in any suitable manner. A pull rod 93 for operating the valve 92 is connected to an up crating lever rod fi l of said valve. A spring 95 operates the lever 53 to slide the bolt 48 downwardly.

Referring now to the operation of the invention, in the lowered position of the scoop carrying arms 2!, the crank arms '53 extend downwardly and rearwardly from the rock shaft 5i and the rear push rod sections 55 abut the front push rod sections 55 in the sleeves 59, as shown in Figure l, and the push rod connections 5 4 incline downwardly and forwardly to the scoop carrying arms 2! in substantially the position shown in Figure 1. Upon operation of the rock shaft 58 and crank arms 53, through substantially an eighty degree are of movement, counterclockwise as shown in Figure l by the arrow, the push rod sections 55 ar moved forwardly to correspondingly move the push rod sections 55 and cause upward and forward swinging of the scoop carrying arms 2! and the scoop 24 into partially elevated position, said sections 55, 56 swinging upwardly about the pivots 5? to compensate for upward swingin of said arms 2!. During upward swinging of said sections 55, 56, the sleeves 5E7 slide forwardly in th guide blocks 5! which slide upwardly and pivot in the guideways 6 to compensate for upward swinging of said sections 55, 56 and the sleeves 59 while retaining the sections 55, 5B- aligned. At the end of substantially eighty degrees of movement of the crank arms 53, the rod sections 55, 56 have reached substantially horizontal position, as shown by dotted lines in Figure 1, and the scoop carrying arms 2| and scoop 24 have been partly raised through a first stage of swinging movement into the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. Durin such operation of the scoop carrying arms 2!, the segments 16 have merely taken up the slack in the cables ll caused by upward swinging or" the scoop carrying arms 2|. When the rod sections 55, 56 have reached substantially horizontal positions, the effective thrust thereof against the scoop carrying arms 21 begins to diminish, for reasons which will be clear. At this point, and upon further operation of the rock shaft 59, in the same direction, the segments i6 cause winding up of the cables ll around the same and swing the scoop carrying arms 2| and the scoop 24 upwardly through a second stage of operation into fully raised positions, as shown by the dot and dash lines in Figure 1, the sleeves 59 slidin forwardly on the rear push bar sections 55 to compensate for forward throw of the scoop carrying arms 2| relative to the rear push bar sections 55, said sleeves sliding and pivoting in the guideways G l, for reasons which will be clear. The peripheral curvature of the segments '16, it will be understood, is compound and suitable for accomplishing the results as set forth in connection therewith. By discharging the pressure from the cylinder 80, under control of the valve 92, the parts will assume normal position under the weight of the scoop carrying arms 2! and scoop 24 as will be apparent,

As shown in Figure 9, the scoop 24 may be inverted for use of the bottom thereof as a bulldozer blade. This may be accomplished by removing the two end bolts 30 of the series, and the clamping bars 3!. Then swinging the scoop 24 into inverted position on the other bolts 30 at each side ofsaid scoop and then bolting the clamping bars 31 to the scoop carrying arms 2| and to the sides 29 of the scoop 24 through the additional bolt holes 32 and two of the bolt holes, not shown, from which the bolts 30 were previously withdrawn.

As will be seen the described attachment will not interfere with normal operation of the grader but may be easily detached from the grader and replaced when desired.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suffice to impart a clear understanding of our invention, without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of modification, without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described our invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. Loading mechanism for use on a horizontal frame of a road grader comprising a pair of upright side bars on said frame at one end of the grader, a pair of opposite connected lift arms having upper ends pivoted to the upper ends of said bars for upward swinging from lowered pendent position, a scoop secured to said arms between the lower ends thereof, power means for swinging said arms upwardly comprising successively operating thrust and pull mechanisms, respectively, operatively connected to said arms said thrust and pull mechanisms being connected for operation and timing of one by the other,

having cranks thereon, thrust connections pivoted to said arms and to the cranks of said shaft for upward swinging with said arms and exerting upward thrust against said arms at one side of the pivot of said arms, said pull mechanism comprising a wind-up cable exerting upward pull on said arms at the opposite side of the pivot of said arms, and means on said rock shaft for winding up said cable with a delayed tensioning action, said thrust connections comprising bar sections telescopically connected for relative sliding movement idly during upward pull on said arms by said cable.

2. Loading mechanism for use on a horizontal frame of a road grader comprising a pair of upright side bars on said frame at one end of the grader, a pair of opposite connected lift arms having upper ends pivoted to the upper ends of said bars for upward swinging from lowered pendent position, a scoop secured to said arms between the lower ends thereof, power means for swinging said arms upwardly comprising successively effective thrust and pull mechanisms, respectively, operatively connected to said arms, means for permanentl connecting said thrust and pull mechanisms together for operation of the pull mechanism by the thrust mechanism idly during effective operation of the thrust mechanism, said thrust mechanisms comprising a rock shaft common to both said mechanisms, said pull mechanism further comprising a Wind up pull cable, and a segment mounted on said shaft eccentrically for winding up said cable with a delayed action to time operation of the pull mechanism relative to operation of th thrust mechanism.

3. Loading mechanism for use on a horizontal frame of a road grader comprising a pair of upright side bars on said frame at one end of the grader, a pair of opposite connected lift arms having upper ends pivoted to the upper ends of said bars for upwardly swinging from lowered pendent position, a scoop secured to said arms between the lower ends thereof, power means for swingin said arms upwardly comprising successively effective thrust and pull mechanisms, respectively, operatively connected to said arms, and means permanently connecting said thrust and pull mechanisms together for operation of the pull mechanism by the thrust mechanism idly during effective operation of the thrust mechanism, said thrust mechanism comprising bar sections telescopically connected for relative sliding movement idly during upward swinging of said arms by said pull mechanism.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 868,267 Hetlesaeter Oct. 15, 1907 1,449,733 Clausen Mar. 27, 1923 2,269,917 Repplinger Jan. 13, 1942 2,339,518 Reisser Jan. 18, 1944 2,391,538 Armstrong Dec. 25, 1945 2,413,096 Barker Dec. 24, 1946 2,421,566 Kober June 3, 19 7 2,456,491 Collins Dec. 14, 1948 2,543,496 Holopainen Feb. 27, 1951 2,638,237 Struthers et a1 May 12, 1953 

